Ten Ways Giving Back Helps You

There’s a deep wave of grassroots giving back sweeping the country. We want to feel useful. We want to find meaning. We want to know we matter. We want to feel this alive and on fire with possibility. Here are some ways serving others can serve you.

You Connect with What It Means to be Human

When John Heineman learned that more than tens of millions of Americans were stranded in the boat of having no health insurance, he took to the waters, literally. After he graduated from the University of Iowa, and after intensive training, he swam the English Channel to raise money for the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic "The waves were so big that I could not see much of anything but water." And he was stung many times by shoals of jellyfish. Moved by Heineman's generosity, $19,000 in support for the clinic streamed in from around the country. Along the way, Heineman says he's met priceless people served by the clinic. Those people, he says, are "his exposure to humanity at its finest."